Zokiki's Quest
by SonicRanger
Summary: After helping defeat the evil Racaca, Zokiki and the Garuru platoon are called for help by a distressed platoon on a planet called Junan. Zokiki must help this platoon not only rescue their leader from a hideous marriage, but also escape the planet alive. Join Zokiki, the Garuru platoon, and a platoon full of new allies beat the Junan Princess and escape alive in Zokiki's Quest.
1. Chapter 1

_Zokiki Presents:_

_ Quest on Planet Junan_

**Zokiki POV**

"Tororo!"

Garuru sighed as I stormed into the control room of the ship. I was ticked with that little runt, "That is the last straw, you little nose-picker! Where are my dice?"

We heard Tororo's voice on the speaker, "Pu pu! Whatever are you talking about?"

I crossed my arms, "Don't make me call them. I promise you, I'll Slice-and-Dice your whole little hideout to pieces if that's what it takes." I was dead serious, "I will get them back, you little runt, one way of another."

He laughed, "Pu pu pu! And you're supposed to be as smart as Kululu? Yeah right! You can't even find me on one little ship!"

I sighed, "Slice-and-Dice."

We heard a lot of noise and slicing from the other end of the speaker. Tororo didn't sound like he enjoyed it what-so-ever. Suddenly, a swarm of tiny dice with small blades coming out of every dot burst through the floor. They quickly formed together and made two simple dice. I held up my hand as they shot towards me and caught them.

The whole platoon and I looked down the hole in the floor to see Tororo in his now hacked up room. He looked mad, "Look what you did to all my equipment!"

I scoffed, "I warned you."

Garuru sighed, "Must you two continue to damage my ship in this silly argument?"

I grinned, "Kikiki! Sorry about that, boss. The boys and I will fix it!" I gave Tororo a look, "Though he can take care of his room himself."

I tossed my dice in the air and they changed from. They became two keronians. One was entirely black with no features at all except for a white cap. The other was the exact opposite, being white with a black cap.

I held out my hand and they did the same. My eyes began to glow as I traced the damage with my hand, seeing the repairs in my mind. The two with me traced the same way I did, except their hands started to glow and the floor started to repair itself. They, being connected to me, could see what I wanted done in the repairs, and since I was incredibly smart, I knew how to fix it perfectly. I even fixed in a hatch for the runt. Of course, it wasnt fancy like his old one.

Once we finished, my eyes stopped glowing and the two became dice in my hand again. I grinned, "Ki ki! All finished!"

Garuru smirked, "I always find that very impressive."

I laughed, "Kikiki! But of course! I live to impress! Kiki!"

Tororo popped open the hatch, "This is a pathetic job! No handiwork at all!"

I smirked, "Yes, but this way I'll always know how to get into your little hideout. Kiki!"

Suddenly, there was an alert on the big screen. I hopped into my chair and started typing fast, "Its an SOS from another keronian platoon."

Garuru looked serious, as usual, "Pull it up on screen."

I did, revealing a young keronian girl. She was a black keronian with black ponytails from out the back of her midnight blue helmet, white underbelly, and big sky-blue eyes. Her ponytails were purple halfway down towards the ends. The symbol on her helmet was a blue rose. Her helmet was very simple with a microphone that reached her mouth.

She looked desperate as we could barely see her through the bad reception, "Hello? Anyone there?"

Garuru did the talking, "This is First Lieutenant Garuru of the Garuru Platoon? We got your SOS. What seems to be the problem?"

The girl spoke, "First Lieutenant Garuru? I didn't realise that's who he had for emergency contact!"

I was kinda surprised, "We can actually put down Garuru for emergency contact? I thought it was against the rules to call up a First Lieutenant directly like that!"

Garuru looked concerned, "Only old friends can. Just who are you, miss?"

She spoke, "Sarara of the Triple 9 Platoon, sir!"

Garuru was greatly surprised by that, "Kyukoko?"

Sarara nodded, "That's our platoon leader, sir. He was just captured by the natives of Planet Junan in the Eastern Galaxy! We can't seem to rescue him ourselves and we're certain they have terrible plans for him, sir! We're out of supplies after a crash landing caused by the natives and now we're stuck on this planet! We desperately need some help, sir!"

Garuru spoke, "Alright. Just stay where you are and we'll come find you. Can you activate your beaken, Sarara?"

She sighed, "Only Mijiji knows those things, but he was injured in the crash, so I don't think he can help."

I spoke up before Garuru, "I could walk you through it if you can tell me what kind of ship you've got."

She looked from the screen, probably looking for the ship name and model number. She spoke, "Well, it says this is a Meteor Maxxer Cruiser. Does that help?"

I was surprised, "Wait, did you say a Meteor Maxxer Cruiser? Where the frog did you get one of those? They're practically extinct!"

Sarara sighed, "It belongs to Mijiji. He built it himself, so I don't know how much of the information on it is useful."

I groaned, "Could have told me that before, sweetheart." I started searching my files for something to help. I stopped at a page and pulled it up on the big screen right next to the girl's picture. It had five different control panels on it.

I sighed, "Ok, do you see a series of lights at the top of the control panel or the bottom?"

She looked, "Top."

I took out two of the panels in the page, "Ok, what colors of those lights?"

She checked again, "Red and yellow."

I removed two more from the page, "Got it. Ok, you should have a Pixer Control Panel installed on your ship, meaning the beaken switch is at the top, third button from the very right. It should be green."

She looked and smiled, "I see it!" Just then, a small map appeared on our screen of Planet Junan, where a little red dot was blinking.

I smiled, "Well done, Sarara!" She looked proud.

Garuru spoke, "Alright, Sarara, just stay put until we get there. If anything comes up, call us right back. Do you copy?"

She nodded and gave a salute, "Yes, sir!" Then the connection was cut off.

Garuru turned to me, "Well done there, Zokiki. Quick thinking."

I grinned, "Kikiki!"

Garuru spoke, "Alright, let's head over there and lend them a hand."

Everyone took their places and we started off for Planet Junan. I glanced back at Garuru, "By the way, who's Kyukoko? Must be a good old friend since he could contact you directly."

Garuru sighed, "We were cadets together. We keep in touch. He has his own Platoon and he's always traveling to new planets."

I was curious, "If he was cadets with you, that means he was probably there when Racaca was a cadet too."

He nodded, "He was. He was one of the survivors when Racaca first went traitor."

I smirked, "Amazing how much one crazy girl can bring soldiers together. You and me, you and Kyukoko, and who knows who else!"

Garuru sighed, "Yes, but from the sounds of it, he has his own troubles. What would Planet Junan want with Kyukoko?"

Pururu spoke, "The sooner we get to Junan, the sooner we can find out. That girl looked awfully scared. She looked like she was still a tadpole too."

Garuru looked determined, "We need to get over there ASAP."

We all saluted, "Yes, sir!"

Junan was a jungle planet, so it was difficult looking for somewhere safe to land. Once we found a spot, Garuru had Zoruru, Pururu, and Tororo stay onboard, just in case. Taruru, Garuru, and I headed out to find Sarara and the Triple 9 Platoon.

I followed the blinking dot on my handheld device. I'd built it during my time with the Garuru Platoon, so it was fully capable of connecting to the ship whenever I wanted. I could drive the ship from the ground if I wanted. Something I had learned from Kululu in our cadet days.

We walked through the jungle. I led the way while Garuru held his gun ready and Taruru watched our surroundings. I kept my dice in hand, just to be safe.

After a while, I pushed aside some branches to see the crash sight of the Triple 9 platoon's ship. It was a wreck! Garuru led the way over to find Sarara and the rest of the platoon.

We came to a large hole in the ship's side, probably the impact location. There wasn't any light inside. Garuru led the way in as I turned off my handheld.

We walked in quiet through the ships' corridors in darkness. I held my dice out and they gave off a soft, teal glow. It wasn't much, but enough to see our way. We walked on, hoping to find some sign of Sarara or her comrades.

Then I heard voices from up ahead. We moved quietly closer, listening to the voices. I then heard Sarara's voice, "It won't be long now. I'm sure they're close."

We heard another voice, "Are you sure they got the right information? I could have come help you out if you'd have told me. OW!"

Sarara spoke again, "Don't over do it, Mijiji. Besides, they have what they need. I activated the beaken, so they'll find us just fine. They know what they're doing."

We walked up to the door that the voices were coming from. Garuru tried opening the door, but it was locked.

We heard the one called Mijiji's voice, "Oh drat, those creeps found us."

I spoke up fast, "Its ok! We're the Garuru platoon! We're here to help!"

Sarara spoke, "I know that voice! That's the keronian who I talked to on-screen!"

I smiled, "Yeah, that's me. My name is Zokiki. I'm here with First Lieutenant Garuru and another member. Will you let us in?"

I listened as the door was unlocked. We walked in and was surprised to see a sword at my throat. I stopped, surprised.

There stood a dark grey keronian with a large black blotch around his right eye, black underbelly, red eyes, and a burgundy hat. His symbol was two black katanas crossing each other. His hat was that of any assassin in the keronian army, except it was burgundy with black sides and a black ninja headband with his symbol on it. He also wore the black mask most assassins wore. He had a cutlass in hand and its sheath was strapped to his back by a black belt that went over his shoulder. He also wore black, finger-less gloves.

He looked me over, then sheathed his cutlass and gave a polite bow. I figured he was supposed to make sure we weren't trying to trick them. Pretty smart really.

I saw another keronian in the room. He was laying on a metal table with a pillow to prop him up. He was a brown keronian with black stripes on his arms and legs, white underbelly, black wavy hair under a bright yellow paperboy cap, and cyan blue eyes. His symbol was a blue compass pointing North. He wore a compass on a dark brown cord around his neck and a light brown belt full of tools.

He looked pretty beat up and had an injury in his side. He was wrapped up pretty well for being on a crashed ship. He looked us over, "Well, I guess they are the Garuru Platoon after all. How Kyukoko go the First Lieutenant as an emergency contact, I'll never understand."

Sarara and the assassin keronian gave salutes. Sarara smiled, "Thank you for coming, sir."

Garuru returned the gesture, "We will help as best we can. First we need to know just what happened."

Mijiji sighed, "That lousy princess shot my ship right out of the sky. We came to look for something important on this planet, but our mission was cut short. When we crashed, her soldiers showed up and nabbed Kyukoko. The rest would have taken us too, but Kyukoko managed to put the ship under lockdown, protecting us. After they left, I undid the lockdown, but there was nothing we could do for him."

He looked around at the damaged ship, "My beautiful ship. Ruined. After all my hard work."

Sarara sighed, "Don't mind him. This ship is his pride and joy. He spent years building it, so he gets sentimental when it gets damaged."

I smiled, "Understandable. It really is an amazing ship, even after all the damage."

Mijiji sighed, "Thanks."

Garuru spoke, "Well, before we rescue Kyukoko, we need to get you all to our ship. You'll need to be taken care of. Our medic, Pururu, is on the ship. She can have you fixed up."

Mijiji smirked, "A lady medic? That's all you had to say." He tried getting up with help from the assassin keronian. He limped along, which I knew would slow us down.

I whispered to Garuru, "We'll have to really be careful getting back. If the natives are out looking for us, they'll easily catch us if we're not ready for a fight."

Garuru nodded, "I agree. We'll have to move slow for him. You and Taruru keep your guard up." Taruru and I gave a nod of understanding.

With that, we headed out. I stayed to the right and Taruru stayed to the left of Mijiji and his comrades. Sarara and the assassin helped him walk while Garuru stayed at the front, leading the way. Having a near photographic memory, I could remember the way back to the ship.

Sarara spoke softly, "We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Sarara." She turned to the assassin, "And this is Airroro." The assassin gave a nod.

Mijiji sighed, "And I'm Mijiji."

I smirked, "I'm Zokiki, the boss is of course Garuru, and the tadpole is Taruru."

Taruru crossed his arms, "I am not a tadpole."

Garuru sighed, "Don't start, you two. Stay focused."

We both spoke, "Yes, sir."

As I walked, two glowing blue, slightly transparent, floating figures appeared at my sides. They were tribal keronian ghosts. The spirits in my dice, X and Z. Though, only I could see them since the dice were in my possession.

The one was a dark teal keronian with gold eyes and red underbelly while the other was a white keronian with lime green eyes and grey underbelly. The white one even still had a tail. That was X and the other was Z. The black and white forms they took where only their physical forms. X was the white one while Z was the black one.

Z spoke, having a slight accent, "Be careful, Master Zokiki. I sense we are not alone in this jungle."

X nodded, "You and your comrades must hurry."

I understood and spoke, "There are others nearby. We'd better kick it up a notch."

Garuru knew about my connection with X and Z and nodded, "Alright." He turned to the others, "Keep your eyes and ears open. We're not alone out here."

I tossed my dice up and down in one hand as I listened. We were halfway to the ship. A little farther and we would have been fine.

Suddenly, a volley of arrows flew at us. I tossed my dice out at them, "Slice and Dice!" My dice split up into a bunch of tiny dice with blades, slicing right through every arrow.

Then large lizard men charged out at us. They were as tall as Pekoponians, but very hidieous. They had large, sharp teeth, shiny green scales, and blinking third eye lids. They wore royal soldier uniforms and carried large guns or long spears.

Garuru groaned, "An ambush. Everyone to the ship! Hurry!" Garuru got Mijiji on his back and we ran for the ship.

I yelled to my dice, "Cover us!" My mini dice swarm shot around like flies around the Junanans, slowing them down. I ran after the others.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake and open up. One crack opened up under Garuru. Mijiji pulled to one side, letting them fall to one side safely, though he felt pain when he hit the ground.

Taruru jumped to safety and reached for me. I grabbed his hand, but the ground crumbled under me. Our grip wasn't strong enough as my hand slipped from his. Taruru gasped as I fell, "Zokiki!"

Sarara was in just as bad a situation as the ground shifted under her and Airroro, tipping them back and dropping them down the hole too. The three of us fell fast into the darkness.

Then nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Zokiki POV**

I groaned as I came back to consciousness, "Ow. What the frog was that?" I rubbed my head as I pulled myself up. My whole body hurt.

Then two little lights floated above me. X and Z. I smirked, "Hey, guys."

The two appeared above me, glowing softly. Z spoke, "Are you hurt, Master Zokiki?"

I sighed, "Not really. I'll be fine. Did the others make it to the ship?"

X nodded, "Garuru, Taruru, and Mijiji made it safely. The other two fell with you."

"Zokiki?"

I looked to see Sarara and Airroro. They were pinned under some rocks. Airroro had Sarara safely under his arm. No doubt he took the impact for her.

I got to my feet and helped Sarara slip out while X and Z lit the dark for us. Then we both helped Airroro out. After a little work, we were all on our feet. I sighed, "You two ok?"

Airroro looked over himself then gave me a nod. Sarara sighed, "We're ok."

I looked up to see very little light from far, far above. I sighed, "Well, we sure ain't going back that way."

Sarara looked around and spotted a cave, "What about that way? I mean, there has to be someway out of here, right?"

I shrugged, "Maybe. It's worth trying." I grabbed my dice and led the way. Sarara and Airroro followed. I could only hope Sarara was right.

**Garuru POV**

I groaned as I checked the on-screen map of Junan, "Nothing. No signal of Zokiki anywhere."

Pururu looked worried, "Do you think he's..." She couldn't bring herself to say it anymore than I was. Zokiki was a good soldier. Nearly my whole crew had come to like having him around. He made things feel light with his sarcasm and clever jokes.

Though, Tororo was not so sorry for the possible loss, "Do you think he's dead?" We all gave him annoyed looks. He shrugged, "What? I was just asking!"

I turned back to the screen, "I don't get it. Why can't we locate Zokiki anymore? Even if something did happen to him, the transmitter on his handheld device would give off a signal."

Zoruru spoke, "Perhaps there is something below ground that is hiding their presence from us?"

"Of course." We all turned to see the one called Mijiji walking over. He was wrapped up and had a bit of a limp as he walked.

He smiled, "You're right about something hiding them from you. There are underground tunnels here on Junan."

I spoke, "How do you know that? The map shows no indication of any tunnels underground."

Mijiji sat in a chair with a deep sigh, still aching and tired, "The Junanans believe in stealth and secrecy. It was Kyukoko who knew about the tunnels. He collects old maps of different planets, which reveal many secrets that digital maps wouldn't know about. Its no surprise the Junanans would hide as big an asset as secret underground tunnels."

He pulled out a folded scroll from one of his belt pockets, "Lucky for you guys, I brought the map with me. Maybe it can help you locate these tunnels and everything in them."

I accepted the map and opened it. I was surprised by all the tunnels. They were built throughout the entire planet's core. It was like a giant web inside the planet. I handed it to Tororo, "See about getting this programed into our map."

Tororo took it, "Yes, sir." He slipped down into his little room and got to work. In a matter of moments, the map on-screen had the tunnels included. A small blinking red light appeared in one of them.

Pururu smiled, "It's Zokiki."

I watched the light moving through the tunnel, "And from the looks of it, he's alright."

Mijiji smirked, "And look where they're headed."

We all looked and were surprised. I sighed, "I hope Zokiki knows what he's doing in there."

**Zokiki POV**

Sarara spoke from behind me, "Just how far do you think this tunnel goes?"

I shrugged, "Who knows? It could lead all the way to the other side of the planet. Junan's certainly small enough." Airroro walked in silence, his katanas out and ready, just in case we run into trouble.

I stopped when I noticed something above us. I had the dice in me hand glow brighter to reveal a trap door above. I smirked, "I think I just found our exit."

Sarara looked too, "But it looks like its locked, and its too high for us to reach it."

Airroro thought to himself, then jumped up pretty high and slid his sword into the wall of the tunnel. He held to his handle, hopped up on the handle, and used a pin he pulled out of his belt to pick the lock.

I smirked, "Quite the assassin you've got there."

Sarara giggled, "Yeah, Airroro's really handy. Its no wonder he and Captain Kyukoko work so well together."

I smiled, "Really? They best friends?"

Sarara nodded, "Yeah, kinda. Honestly, we're all best friends with the Captain. Dependable comrades with Mijiji, old buddies with Airroro, and kinda like a big brother to me. We all love him."

I found that kinda interesting. I had never really met someone who was loved by so many like that. Made me want to see him myself. That was probably because the closest to a best friend I ever had was "curry butt" Kululu from our cadet days.

Then I thought of Natsumi Hinata. I guess, in all honesty, she could be considered my close friend too. Though, I couldn't be sure she felt the same way.

I jumped out of my thoughts when the heavy lock fell to the ground in front of me. Sarara and I looked up at Airroro, who looked apologetic for almost dropping it on us. Still didn't say a word, yet Sarara smiled, "Don't worry, Airroro. Just try to be more careful." He gave an embarrassed nod, then pushed open to hatch.

He looked around above, then turned to us with a nod. I figured it meant the coast was clear. He held down his hand for Sarara. She jumped and he caught her wrist. He pulled her up, then helped her through the hatch. Next was my turn and we did the same thing. Once I was up, Sarara and I helped Airroro up.

I looked around and was surprised. We were in a large room covered in items that looked made of gold. Gold vases, gold chairs, gold jewelry in gold boxes, and all of it was decorated with rubies, diamonds, or other jewels. I spoke, "Guys, where are we?"

Sarara looked around, "It looked like a sort of storage room. Like a closet, except much bigger."

I smirked, "To a very rich girl."

Airroro looked at the door and gasped. We looked too and were shocked. It was huge!

I sighed, "Ok, make that a very large rich girl. Like a king size princess."

Sarara gasped in horror, "Oh no! What if this is the princess's closet? That means we're in the castle!"

I thought about it, "The same princess that kidnapped your leader?"

Sarara nodded, "Yeah, and she's huge!"

I smirked, "Then we're in luck! If we're in the castle, that means we're close to finding him. He has to be around here somewhere, right?" Sarara looked reassured and nodded.

Airroro went down and motioned for me to get on his back. I climbed on and he lifted me to the doorknob. I reached up and was grateful I could get to it. I turned it and the door opened very slightly. I climbed down and we snuck over to the crack of the door.

We peeked out to see a large bedroom. Everything was about two to three times our size. The bed was big enough for five keronians to sleep peacefully while tables and chairs were taller than us. I whistled, "This room alone is bigger than my dad's house on Keron."

Sarara nodded, "I know what you mean, and I have a big house!"

Airroro slipped out and we followed him. He kept his sword out, ready for anything, as usual. I pulled out my handheld device and tried using it. I'd tried it down in the tunnels, but the signal was too weak. Maybe it would work in the castle.

I grinned as I saw inside the ship on the screen, "It worked!" Sarara and Airroro looked over my shoulders to see.

Garuru smirked, "There you are. Are you three alright?"

I grinned, "Of course! And it seems we're inside the castle."

Garuru sighed, "So we can see. We have you on the map."

I chuckled, "Ki ki! Anyways, we're gonna try and find Kyukoko since we're here. So far, we've reached the princess's room. The tunnel we took led right into the princess's closet. If we can find him, we can bring him through the tunnels. Hopefully, it'll be faster than a full-on castle invasion."

Garuru nodded, "I agree. Just be careful. Don't risk being seen."

I laughed, "Kikiki! Remember who you're talking to! I'm Zokiki! Nobody more clever than me!"

Suddenly, there was a scream. Sarara gasped, "It's the Captain!"

I turned to Garuru, "Gotta go!" I hung up and we hurried to the other door. This time, I had Sarara hop on my back to reach the doorknob. We got the door opened and hurried towards where we heard more voices. Airroro and I peeked into the open door.

Inside were two of the Junanans and a Keronian. He was a dark tan keronian with curly tan hair. His symbol was a black skull and crossbones. His grey eyes looked nervous as the two Junanans had him at gun point. I was a bit surprised to see he was dressed in a red cape and gold crown. He looked like a prince.

The keronian spoke nervously, though with an accent, "L-look here, mates. I just don't want to marry your princess! Why me anyhow? I'm not even a Junanan! And look at me! I'm smaller than her teddy bears!"

One of the Junanans spoke in a slither-y voice, "The princess has ordered that you be her groom, and that is what you will be. Now shut up and come with us."

The keronian was defiant, "Never! I refuse to marry a lass, no a _thing_, that makes me desperate to stare at the sun."

I was kinda surprised. He talked like some pirate, accent and all. I then remembered how Sarara kept calling him captain. I found that a bit weird.

I shook the thought from my mind and tossed my dice into the room, "Let's see if we get lucky." The dice rolled between he two Junanans. Double fives.

Suddenly, the dice blew up in a big smoke. The Junanans started coughing until they immediately collapsed, fast asleep. I grinned, "Lucky day for me! Kikiki!"

Sarara smiled, "Nice work, Zokiki!" The three of us hurried in as the smoke quickly cleared.

The Keronian saw us and smiled, "Mates!" He hugged Sarara, "I'm so relieved to see you!" He looked at me and was a bit surprised, "Wait, who are you?"

I smiled, "Name's Zokiki of the Garuru Platoon. I'm here to help rescue you, Kyukoko."

He looked thoughtful, "Garuru, huh? How'd he know I needed help?"

Sarara smiled, "I was able to send them an SOS."

Kyukoko smiled big at her, "You did? Well, that's great, lass! You finally learned how to work the SOS system!" He hugged her again, "I'm so proud of you!" I smirked; Kyukoko really did treat Sarara like a little sister.

Then Kyukoko turned to Airroro, "And look at you, mate! You're being a team player with a new guy! Well done!" He exchanged salutes with Airroro, who smiled behind his mask. Old friends, definitely.

I spoke, "Well, we really ought to get out of here. More Junanans are bound to show up soon. We need to leave."

Kyukoko looked confident, "Right! But first, I need my booty!" I managed not to laugh as he took off the crown and cape and pulled on thick brown boots with teal laces, a brown soldier cap with two points like ears at the top, and thick brown gloves. He grinned as he grabbed a large sack full of something, "Alright! Let's get moving!"

We hurried out, back towards the princess's room. We slipped in and were about to go for the closet, but we stopped. For a moment, I almost screamed like a girl.

There stood a very large Junanan with five normal Junanans holding guns. It was clearly female from the large pink dress covered in ribbons and the gold tiara. She was utterly hideous. She had large, mangled feet, a blinking third eye lid, incredibly long claws like daggers, and long tentacles coming from her back. And don't even get me started on the smell.

She made an ugly grin and spoke with a deep, scratchy voice like an evil old man, "There you are, my love!"

Kyukoko screamed like a girl, "Princess Kara Kwipply!"

I could understand why he didn't want to marry her, because now I was beginning to wish it were daytime so I could stare at the sun too. I spoke, "So you're the princess." Sarara stood behind Airroro, looking freaked out, and a little sick to her stomach.

The princess spoke, "Yes, I am! I am also about to become my darling Kyukoko's bride."

Kyukoko spoke loudly, "Get it through your head, wench! I ain't marrying you!"

She looked annoyed as her third eye lid blinked, making me shiver, "That is not an option. You will marry me. Either you do, or I'll kill your friends here." The guns were aimed for us. Kyukoko looked worried.

I started thinking fast. One of my best qualities, I thought incredibly fast under pressure. I came up with a plan.

I spoke, "Get ready, guys." I then threw my dice, "Slice-and-Dice!"

My dice started to attack the Junanans as I and the others took off for the closet. Just before we reached the hatch, I grabbed Kyukoko and hid behind a chair. Sarara and Airroro hid with us. Kyukoko was confused, "What are we..."

I covered his mouth, "Just trust me."

We stayed quiet as the Junanan's ran in. The princess roared, which was painfully loud. The Junanan soldier spoke, "They're escaping into the tunnels! We'll cut them off before they reach the jungle! Hurry, men!" They soldiers all hurried down into it.

The princess jumped down, shaking the ground like an earthquake. One of the soldiers spoke, "Princess, you must wait here!"

She yelled at him, "I will have my darling groom! I will destroy anyone that tries to take him from me! Now move it!" We heard them hurry off below.

We waited about five minutes after we couldn't hear them anymore before coming out of hiding. Kyukoko sighed, "Now what, mate? We sure can't leave that way now."

Sarara nodded, "And the castle's far too big to go running around until we find another exit."

Kyukoko sighed, "And this place is crawling with soldiers. Literally." He shivered, "These Junanans are terrifying creatures."

I rubbed my chin as I thought, "Let me think. I'll come up with something." I looked at my device to see the ship was due West of us. I looked around and saw a large window in the princess's room. It pointed West.

I grinned, "I got it." They all looked at me. I chuckled, "Anyone afraid of heights?"

Sarara squealed as we jumped from the window. I gripped tight to the hook I hung from as we slid down. Airroro had managed to help me create a make-shift crossbow from the window with a large hair scrunchie. What the princess used it for without any hair, I wasn't interested in finding out.

Using a make-shift arrow tied with sheets for rope, we shot it at a tree more than halfway to the ship's location, which would get us ahead of the princess and her soldiers. With three hooks I found, we slide down towards the ground. Sarara was on Kyukoko's back as he slid ahead of me and Airoro. Kyukoko laughed, having the time of his life.

After a little time, we reached the tree. Kyukoko hit to tree with his feet, then shoved against the trunk, flipped backwards, and landed safely on his feet with Sarara in his arms. I had to admit, I was impressed.

I let go just before hitting the tree, landing on a branch, though I lost my balance. Airroro did the same and caught my wrist before I could fall. I grinned, "Thanks. Ki ki." He gave a nod, then hopped down next to Kyukoko. I hopped down with them.

Kyukoko smiled big, "That was awesome, mate! Let's do it again!"

I smirked, "You sure you want that? That would include going back to the castle, where the princess will catch us and force you to marr..."

Kyukoko cut me off, "Don't say such evil!" I laughed.

Sarara looked around, "We'd better hurry. The Princess will be here any minute!"

"Sooner than you think!"

We spun around to see the Princess and her soldiers. I groaned, "How the frog did they reach us already?"

The Princess smirked, or at least I think she smirked, "Foolish little frogs. I know those tunnels better than anyone. I know shortcuts recently cut by yours truly."

I snapped my fingers in annoyance, "Aw frog."

Kyukoko looked determined, "No way am I going back! I will never marry you, Kara!"

The Princess roared, then whipped her tentacle at him, but he jumped out of the way. She tried again, but he caught it. I was impressed at how strong he was. He grinned and pulled the tentacle hard, making the princess twist and fall over, landing hard on her back.

As the soldiers helped her, Kyukoko turned to us, "Run for it, mates!" We didn't have to be told twice. We took off.

Kyukoko held Sarara's hand as they ran at the lead. Airroro and I followed right behind them. I glanced back to see the soldiers giving chase, shooting at us as they ran. I looked at my device, "We should be close to the ship! Just a little further!"

"NO!" We looked back as we ran and gasped. The Princess was running on all fours, her eyes blazing with rage. She roared as she passed her soldiers, "I will not let you escape!"

Sarara gasped in fright, "She's gonna catch us!"

I quickly tossed back my dice, "Come on, I need some luck, guys!"

The dice landed, but I got a three and a one. I groaned, "Aw frog!" Suddenly, there was an explosion ahead of us.

Sarara looked worried, "Uh, isn't that... where your ship is, Zokiki?" I gulped. It was.

We came out and stopped. The engine of the ship was in flames. There were a couple holes in the front, telling me someone attacked the ship. I groaned, "Aw frog! Where's Garuru?"

Suddenly, a tentacle wrapped around Kyukoko and pulled him up in the air. He saw the Princess and squealed in fright. She grinned, I think, "There you are, my love!" She brought him close and hugged him, "I will never let you go, my darling!" Kyukoko screamed in terror of being some close to her.

Sarara was worried, "Captain!"

I gulped, "We've got bigger problems, kid." We looked around to see soldiers had us surrounded, aiming their guns at us. I sighed and raised my hands to surrender, "So not the plan." Sarara and Airroro did the same. There was no way we could take them all. Where the frog was Garuru and the others?

The Princess "smiled", "Oh, how wonderful! Now we can be married!" Kyukoko looked pale, almost like he would either faint or vomit at that moment. I would have done both.

Sarara moved closer to me, "I wish Mijiji were here. He'd know what to do. Where is he?"

I sighed, speaking quietly, "No clue. Garuru and the others are gone too. Hopefully they escaped."

Sarara looked up at me, "What about your dice? Can't you use them like you did in the castle?"

I sighed, "I already tried, but nothing. I didn't get doubles, so they couldn't give me luck, and any other attack wouldn't do us much good at this point."

Sarara understood with a sad sigh, "Then what will we do? We can't let her marry the Captain."

I sighed as I watched the Princess snuggling Kyukoko, "I don't know."


	3. Chapter 3

**Garuru POV**

I sighed as we reached the clearing. I was helping Mijiji walk as we just managed to escape the attack on our ship. We even managed to lose the soldiers that were following us, though that was only shortly before I heard the explosion. It was certain we weren't getting away on my ship. So, that left us with only one other option.

Pururu saw the crashed ship, "This is your ship, Mijiji?"

Mijiji nodded, "Yeah, that's it. Pretty beat up, isn't she? What a tragedy."

I spoke, "Is there any way we can get it to fly? Can it be repaired?"

Mijiji scoffed, "Of course it can be repaired. Any ship that's broken can be fixed. The real trouble is the time it'll take to do that. If the others are still rescuing Kyukoko, then we won't have much time before they get back. And knowing Kyukoko, they'll be bringing company. That's just always his luck."

I sighed, "Well, we need to get this thing repaired, and quick."

Zoruru looked around, "Those soldiers will find us soon. We must not waste time."

Mijiji sighed, "Easier said than done. Though, maybe I could use the old engine, maybe repair the siding with artificial layering..." I started having trouble understanding him as he kept going. I could tell he was getting greatly motivated to repair the ship, even if he was still hurt.

Mijiji smirked, "Huh. By frog, maybe we really can repair my ship. It'll take some work, but if you all help me, we could maybe, just maybe, get finished in time to escape."

I nodded, "Alright, then we'd better get started."

Then Tororo groaned, "We've got another problem." He showed me a portable screen he'd brought from the ship. It was like Zokiki's homemade one, but less advanced. I looked and was surprised. There was Zokiki and Mijiji's comrades, captured.

Pururu looked too, "Oh no! Zokiki!"

Mijiji saw Kyukoko and groaned, "Aw Kyukoko. Never simple with you."

I was a bit glad to see Kyukoko. He hadn't really changed much from when I'd last seen him several years ago. His hair was longer and he wore different pieces of clothing, including a new hat, but he was still that brave, defiant, untouchable Kyukoko.

I turned to the others, "Someone has to go help them out while the rest helps Mijiji fix the ship. Taruru, you're coming with me. You too, Zoruru. Pururu, you and Tororo will help Mijiji. Do as he says. Yes, I'm talking to you, Tororo. Since he built this ship, he knows more about it." Mijiji smirked.

I let Pururu help Mijiji walk, "We'll see about rescuing Zokiki and the others."

Tororo shrugged, "Do you really have to bother with Zokiki? Personally, I miss the days when we were actually functional."

Pururu smirked, "You're just jealous of Zokiki cause he's smart like you. Only he's nice too."

Tororo was about to make a remark, but I spoke up, "We don't have time for arguing. Do your best to get finished with the ship while we're gone. I want of this planet as soon as possible. Got it?"

They all saluted, "Yes, sir!"

Mijiji smirked, "Then let's get started. Mind helping me inside, sweetheart?"

Pururu smiled, slightly blushing, "Uh, sure, Mijiji!"

While they all headed inside, I turned to Zoruru and Taruru, "Alright, let's move out." I hurried ahead and they others followed.

Taruru spoke as we went, "You think we'll be able to rescue them, sir? What if she does something to them before we even reach them?"

I smirked, "I have a good feeling Zokiki can manage."

**Zokiki POV**

I kept talking, "But then that's illegal! How can you marry someone without the proper papers? He's clearly alien, which could lead to an uproar in the galactic laws!"

Everyone looked dizzy as I continued to give tons of reasons against the marriage. Sarara and Airroro were tied with me around a large marble column in the throne room, where the wedding was going to take place. Kyukoko had been dragged off to get dressed, again. The guards clearly had headaches, which was good. I knew no one really cared whether this was legal or not, I was really just trying to buy some time.

All the Junanans were dressed in their best, with wasn't much more then a fancier soldier uniform or a nice maid's dress. Clearly all Junanans served her highness. I know I would if I was ruled by someone that big and hideous.

Suddenly, a large tentacle hit the floor in front of me, creating a huge crater in the marble floor. That sure shut me up. We looked to see the princess walking our way in a large white dress and a veil that was clearly too small for her big, ugly face.

She growled down at me, "I will only warn you once, frog. Do not ruin my wedding, or I'll serve you as our main course at the reception." She turned and stomped off.

I shivered, "I swear, I was about to pass out just now."

Sarara looked over at me, "Yeah, she's pretty scary."

I scoffed, "No, I was talking about that smell. She really needs to work on her hygiene."

Sarara looked surprised, then laughed. Even Airroro joined her. I looked between the two, "What's so funny?"

Sarara smiled, "Its just... you act a lot like the Captain. Even when your life is being threatened and you have very little hope of escape, you still find time to crack jokes."

I looked at her, "You guys really do like him. I'll admit, I find him interesting. He's not like anyone I've ever met before. He's daring, brave, and awfully defiant, though I'd be pretty defiant too if I was about to marry that smelly thing."

Then the soldiers started cutting the ropes. I was confused, until they grabbed us and pulled us out of the room. The one that had me spoke, "The Princess doesn't want any interruptions. You three just being alive counts."

He tossed me to the floor in the short hallway and aimed at me. I gasped, "Aw frog." Sarara and Airroro gasped.

Suddenly, two large beams of light hit the Junanan, knocking him out. Something else appeared and attacked the other two that were holding Airroro and Sarara. That one I recognized with a grin, "Zoruru!"

Zoruru finished with the two and turned to me. Then Taruru and Garuru joined us. Garuru spoke, "About time we found you. Are you three alright?"

Sarara smiled, "We are now! thanks you, sir!" She and Airroro gave salutes.

Garuru returned the gesture, "Good to hear. Though, where is Kyukoko?"

That's when we heard Kyukoko's voice. It was coming from the throne room. We hurried back down the hall and hid in the doorway.

We saw Kyukoko being dragged into the thrown room. Literally. He was pulling at the red carpet as three Junanans pulled him along by his feet, though they were clearly having a hard time of it. Kyukoko kept saying things in almost a rant, speaking against getting married. Of course, he was wearing the royal clothes and crown they made him wear earlier.

After a minute or two, they finally reached the altar, where the Junanans lifted him and made him stand. I could see the panicky sweat on Kyukoko's face as he tried to look for a way out of this mess. Of course, there was none. I had already looked.

Then the music changed. Kyukoko went pale as the princess walked out with a bouquet of very ugly plants that even had teeth. Garuru flinched at the sight of the princess, "That's her?"

I nodded, "Yep. Pretty ugly, right?"

Zoruru spoke, "I can think of far more appropriate words to describe her."

We watched as she walked up to Kyukoko. Kyukoko even tried to make a run for it, but the Junanans caught him and put him back, this time aiming guns at him. Kyukoko gulped as she stood next to him.

The priest spoke, "Shall we begin?"

The Princess spoke, "Of course! We didn't all come here for nothing! Hurry up and begin!"

The priest started the whole marry-speech stuff, but the Princess cut him off, "Get on with it! I don't have all day! I want to be married **_now_**!" That last word she said with a growl.

The priest nodded, "Very well. Do you, Princess, take this frog to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Kyukoko crossed his arms, "Keronian."

The priest corrected himself, "Oh, Keronian. Do you take this Keronian to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Kyukoko spoke up before her again, "Not lawfully. This marriage one hundred percent illegal."

The priest sighed, "Princess, do you take this Keronian to be your husband?"

Kyukoko cut in again, "More like prisoner."

The Princess wrapped her tentacle around him, lifting him a little off the floor and covering his mouth, "Enough!" She turned to the priest, "Yes, I do!"

The priest spoke, "And do you, ...uh, what is his name again?"

The Princess smiled, "He's Kyukoko." Kyukoko rolled his eyes.

Taruru turned to Garuru, "Now would be a wonderful time to do something."

Garuru looked around, "I'm working on it. I have a plan, but we need a way to get the Princess away for Kyukoko."

I grinned, "I'll take care of that." It turned to Sarara and Airroro, "That is, if you guys are willing to help me out."

Sarara and Airroro gave salutes. Sarara smiled, "We're with you all the way, Zokiki!" Airroro nodded in agreement.

Garuru turned to his team, "Zoruru, use your assassin magic to get the guards attention and Taruru and I make an exit. Zokiki, you take care of getting Kyukoko."

I gave a salute, "You got it!" I turned to Sarara and Airroro, "Let's go, team!" They nodded.

The priest spoke again, "Do you, Kyukoko, take the Princess to be your wife?"

No answer.

Kyukoko looked bored and annoyed. The Princess yelled at him, "Why won't you answer?!" He only stared at her.

The priest cleared his throat, "Um, Princess, he can't speak."

She looked and saw she still had Kyukoko tied up. She let go, "Oh."

Kyukoko crossed his arms, "Doesn't matter. I will not marry you. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I will _never_ marry you."

The Princess roared, but suddenly a large chunk of rock landed in her mouth. I laughed from where I stood off to one side with Sarara and Airroro. Before the guards could come for us, Zoruru used his assassin magic to blow them all to the back of the room with a huge gust of wind. The Princess was too busy trying to get the rock out of her mouth.

Kyukoko grinned, "Nice one, mates!"

Garuru and Taruru laid out dynamite and bombs next to an open wall, then hurried away before setting it off, blowing out the wall. The Princess roared, but barely a sound came out past the rock. Garuru yelled to us, "Let's go, soldiers!"

Kyukoko pulled off the cape as he hopped down from the landing next to us. He grinned, "Miss me?"

Sarara handed him his things, "Let's get out of here, Captain!"

Kyukoko pulled on his hat, "You bet! Let's roll!" We hurried off.

The Princess was so furious, she smashed the rock in her teeth. She screamed, "GET THEM!"

Zoruru hurried after us as we ran out our new exit. Garuru and Taruru followed. We hurried as fast as we could as the soldiers chased us. I held out my dice, "Come on, guys, I need help here!" I tossed the dice and got double sixes. I grinned, "Alright!"

Though, to my surprise, nothing happened. I groaned, "What the frog is this? Where's my good luck?"

Back at Kyukoko's ship, Pururu groaned, "I don't know how to rewire a ship like this! Mijiji, there are thousands of cords!"

Tororo's head popped down from an opening in the ceiling, "And your circuits are too old! I don't know how these things work!"

Mijiji sighed, "We're never gonna get finished in time at this rate." Then he was surprised. He felt his side, "That's weird. My side doesn't hurt anymore." He grinned, "Alright!"

He stood up and joined Pururu by the control panel, "Allow me." He started fixing wires, re-wiring the panel, and in almost no time, the big screen came on. He smiled, "Bingo!"

He pushed a couple buttons to see us heading their way, "And not a moment too soon." He hurried over and climbed up into the ceiling. After a few bangs and clicks, the engines of the ship were starting up.

Pururu smiled as Mijiji and Tororo climbed back down, "You did it, Mijiji!"

Mijiji smiled, "It was a team effort. I would never have finished those other repairs in time on my own. And coming from me, not being a very good team player, that's a big deal. I take great pride in my ship, so letting people help work on her is nearly impossible. You've earned a great honor in getting to help fix up my ship." They exchanged salutes.

At that moment, the team and I reached the ship just outside, "Open up!"

Mijiji hit a button and the door opened. We all hurried inside, closing the door just as the Junanans reached the clearing. I yelled, "Fly, fly, FLY!"

Airroro and Sarara jumped into their seats at the control panel and started on take off. Mijiji sat to one side of the room where a different control panel and the ship maintenance screens were set up. Kyukoko sat in the commanding seat, "Alright, mates, we're sailing off this crazy chunk of rock! Get us out of here!"

I hoppd into another chair and helped hurry the take off along. I also activated the ship shields just before the Junanans started shooting at us. I grinned, "Very nice shield system."

Mijiji smirked, "I install only the best into my ship."

As the ship started floating up into the air, we suddenly stopped. An error appeared on screen. I looked around, "What the frog was that?!"

Mijiji looked at his readings, "Something's stopping us!"

I changed the camera feed and we all gasped. The Princes was holding us down with her brute strength. She roared, "Give me back my husband!"

Kyukoko squealed, "Get us out of here!"

Mijiji pressed buttons, "We can't! Not unless we get her to let go! If not, the engines with overheat and blow!"

I thought fast, "But how do we get her to let go?" Then I thought of something. We were about West of Garuru's ship.

I pulled out my handheld, "I've got an idea!" I started working on it, connecting to Garuru's ship, "If I can access the lasers on Garuru's ship, I can aim them for her! That should make her let go!"

Garuru spoke, "Try it! We don't have much time before those engines blow!"

I worked at it, hacking into the ship's weapon mainframe. Just before I could choose which weapon, we got a hard jolt. Everyone was sent to the floor. I gasped as my handheld flew off my hands, "Oh no!"

Just before it could smash to the floor, Tororo caught it. He tossed it back to me and I caught it. I smirked, "Kiki! Thanks, kid!"

He yelled as we were jolted again, "Just hurry up before she kills us!"

I chose the lasers and aimed for the Princess. I grinned, "Later, gator!" I hit _Fire_.

A laser shot out from Garuru's ship, hitting the Princess in the back. She roared in pain, releasing the ship. Mijiji grinned, "And we're out of here!" The ship shot off through the air.

Pururu cheered, "We made it!"

Kyukoko laughed proudly, "Well done, mates!"

Garuru smirked, "Same old Kyukoko."

Kyukoko hopped down, "Hey there, mate! Been quite some time, hasn't it?" He shook hands with Garuru.

Garuru smirked, "Still the terror of the galaxy?"

Kyukoko grinned, "But of course! I'm the mighty Triple 9, scourge of planets and king of treasures!"

I groaned, "Ok, what is it with the pirate talk? I've noticed it all this time and its slightly driving my crazy!"

Kyukoko laughed, "Don't worry, Garuru here used to feel the same way. See, I've been a fan of pirates since I was a wee tadpole! The idea of traveling all over and collecting some of the greatest treasures in the universe just touched me! I wanted to be great one day, and now I am!"

He brought out the bag he had been hanging onto, "And we even got out with the loot! Mission accomplished, crew!" His team cheered.

I was curious, "Just what is that anyways?"

Kyukoko dug out something from the bag. I gasped, "Whoa!"

Kyukoko's hand was full of little multicolored crystals. He grinned, "This here is the power on Junan! And this is only a taste of the power that can be collected from the Junan mines! They power everything with this stuff! I collected some so our scientists back on Keron could see about creating artificial replicas! Imagine how useful this will be!"

I stared at the crystals, "That's amazing. Though, why were you searching for these? I thought platoons had specific jobs."

Kyukoko chuckled, "This is our job! Collecting rare treasures and resources from other planets and bringing them back to Keron is the job of an Exploration Platoon!" He glanced at me, "Not too many can qualify for such a responsibility, but you've come to impress me, mate. What's your name again?"

I gave a salute, "Zokiki."

He smirked, "Well, Zokiki, you've got a lot of spark in you. Not only very smart, but also naturally clever. And you even get along very well with my team, which doesn't happen often with new recruits." He grinned, "How would you like to join my platoon?"

I was surprised, "What?"

He put an arm around me as we faced the big screen, "Just think of it, Zokiki! Traveling through the vast sea that is space! Finding rare, valuable treasures and bringing them back to Keron! Can't you see it? You'd be one of the great Triple 9 crew! We're great respected and admired all over the galaxy! We have great adventures and see worlds no Keronian even imagined existed! And with a smart lad like you, my crew would be perfected!"

He looked at me, "What do you say?"

I was speechless. The offer was unbelievably tempting. I turned to Garuru. He was leaning against a chair as he smirked, "I know that look."

I scratched my head, "Garuru, you're the one who gave me a chance. If you want me to stay, I will."

Kyukoko smiled big and wrapped an arm around me again, "I love this kid! Where'd you find him, Garuru?"

Garuru smirked, "Racaca's platoon."

Kyukoko jumped back from me as if I suddenly had a deadly disease. He glanced at Garuru, "You're not serious. Racaca's been missing for years."

I sighed, "He's right. Racaca found me and forced me to join her platoon. We met when he was forced to join too."

Kyukoko looked at Garuru, who looked away, "How'd she manage that?" He then grinned, "It was Giroro, wasn't it?" Garuru was surprised, but the slight blush gave him away.

Kyukoko laughed, "I knew it! She threatened you, didn't she? Aw, mate, you're just too cute!"

Garuru groaned, "Knock it off, Kyukoko!"

Kyukoko grinned, "Let's face it, you're a big brother! It happens!" Garuru crossed his arms.

Kyukoko smiled, "Now come on, mate! What'll it be?" He pulled me close, "Will you let me hold onto your mate here?"

Garuru shrugged, "That's his decision. Platoon transfers isn't my job. If he wants to join your platoon, I'll support it."

I smiled, "Thanks, Garuru." I gave him a salute. Garuru returned the gesture.

Kyukoko grinned, "Then it looks like your with us, mate! Well, you know, after we drop these blokes off on Keron and visit our mates at the Science Center!"

Tororo spoke, "So, Zokiki's leaving?"

I nodded, "Yep, I am."

Suddenly, Tororo started jumping for joy, "Yes! I get to be the smart one again! Pu pu!"

I grinned, "Oh please, kid. No matter where I go, I'll always be the smart one. Ki ki ki!" Tororo crossed his arms, annoyed with me. We all laughed.

What can I say? I'm just so frogging awesome that way! Ki ki!


End file.
